In-bound calls to a customer service agent are often subject to long delays while agents are helping other callers. Technology is needed that will speed up the communication process and allow incoming calls to reach their intended recipient as quickly, economically, and as accurately as possible.
Some existing technologies hold a communications channel open until a customer service agent is available to accept an incoming call. This is a costly approach due to potentially long hold times while other caller's are being serviced. Other techniques allow for an input of a tone or a series of tones from a caller. In this case, a caller may be asked to press a specific number on a telephone keypad in response to a question posed by the telecommunications service to help direct the incoming call to the appropriate agent. While this may allow a caller to provide his account number to an agent, it does not allow the agent to receive any specific information prior to talking to the caller. An example may clarify this problem.
Suppose that a company is trying to make the most cost effective use of its customer service agents in handling the calls of its customers concerning questions related to computer problems. The agent's goal is to satisfy the customer's request for information or technical support as quickly as possible. It would be useful for the customer service agent to be able to get detailed information related to the customer's specific question before connecting directly with the customer. This would allow the agent to obtain the appropriate reference information and be more prepared to deal with the customer's problem before talking to the customer.
Accordingly, there is a need for mechanisms that receive audio information from a caller, record that audio information, and transmit this information to an agent prior to connecting the caller and agent together.